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Revised Edition (Magic: The Gathering)
The Revised Edition of Magic: The Gathering (also simply known as Revised) was the sixth set and third core set released for the game. Like previous core sets, it had no expansion symbol, and had just the artist credit at the bottom left. The set was released in April 1994 and contained 302 cards, like Limited and Unlimited before it. It was the first base set to contain cards from black-bordered sets other than Alpha and Beta. Twenty Revised cards were originally in the Arabian Nights expansion, and another nineteen were originally in the Antiquities expansion. Thirty-five cards that were in Unlimited were not in Revised, including the Power Nine. A few of the cards that were removed from the base set reappeared in later sets. Most notably, Icy Manipulator would be reprinted in Ice Age, and a few others would be reprinted in 8th Edition to celebrate the game's 10th anniversary. Set history Printing and distribution Printing of Revised began in early April 1994 and continued until April 1995, when 4th Edition was announced. It is estimated that about 500 million cards of the set were produced, which fully eliminated the distribution problems of earlier sets. The cards of Revised were still widely available even well into 1996. The cards of Revised all had white borders and no expansion symbol. However, the cards were far paler than their Unlimited counterparts, and the three-dimensional beveling of the cards was cropped out. This made the set seem by some to be unprofessional and "washed out". The beveling was returned in 4th Edition, and the colors were much more vibrant in that set. The large print run meant that Revised basic lands were so numerous and common that it was uncommon to find any other lands in decks until several years later. The collation of the cards made it possible for a basic land card to appear in the common and uncommon slots of a pack. This was intentional; the land cards were printed on the common and uncommon print sheets. Basic lands would get their own full print sheets in 4th Edition, making Revised the last tournament-legal set until 8th Edition in which basic lands could be found in booster packs. One card-printing error of note appeared on the card Serendib Efreet. This blue creature card was misprinted with a green border and a picture of another card, Ifh-Bíff Efreet. The name, mana cost and rules text were of Serendib Efreet, however. The Revised version is now the most common due to the limited print run of the original, intended versions. Cards swapped out At this stage of development, cards were swapped out to alleviate problems. In later sets, cards were swapped in and out to change the feeling of the game, but the cards removed for the Revised edition were all cut for one of three reasons: *''Being too powerful''. In particular, the Power Nine were removed, but also such cards as Invisibility, Forcefield, and Berserk. *''Mystifiers''. Cards that were too confusing by the contemporary ruleset. Mystifiers included Raging River, Word of Command, Camouflage, Blaze of Glory, and Twiddle. Note that the effects of many of these cards were used in later sets, and several of the cards were even reprinted later in their entirety. *''Too weak''. Some very few cards were dropped for being too weak, in particular Copper Tablet, Ironclaw Orcs, and Dwarven Demolition Team. Interestingly enough, many of the cards removed from the base set for the Fourth Edition were removed for same reasons as many cards were cut from Unlimited (although some were brought back in later sets). Such cards included Clone, Vesuvan Doppelganger, and Fork, cards which were either overpowered or offered strange rules interactions not suited for a base set. Rules changes The printing of Revised cleared up a number of rules problems that the Limited Edition and Unlimited Edition rules had. Two changes had a large effect on game play. First, the rule that "multiple effects resolve simultaneously unless a conflict arises" was changed to "effects always resolve last-in-first-out". And second, the rule for Protection from was changed from "the creature ignores all effects" to the more precise "the creature cannot be blocked or targeted by sources, reduces damage to zero, and cannot be enchanted by enchantments." The most visually obvious of Revised's changes was the elimination of the Mono/Poly/Continuous qualifiers to artifacts. With the advent of the game's first tap symbol (a "T" turned forty-five degrees clockwise in a light gray circle), the qualifiers, used to differentiate when and how often an artifact could be used, were no longer needed. Artifacts that were previously classified as Mono artifacts were given the new tap symbol, while Poly and Continuous artifacts were simply re-templated without the tap symbol. Summer Magic The Summer Magic print run of Revised Edition were printed in the summer of 1994.http://www.magiclibrary.net/rarities-summer.html This print run intended to fix some of the errors with Revised, including the washed out color. As it turned out, the Summer Magic run had problems of its own, to include colors that were considered too dark, an uncorrected misprint on Plateau and a new misprint that occurred with the card Hurricane. The so-called "blue" hurricane is one of the rarest and most sought after cards in the entirety of Magic because of its misprint with a blue border. On the secondary market it sells for thousands of dollars. The print run was recalled and destroyed, however some booster box cases that were shipped to England and Texas survived. It is estimated that no more than 5 or 6 of each rare exists. This print run is known primarily for its extremely scarce and valuable cards and packs. Cards are distinguished by dark coloring and a 1994 copyright date displayed at the bottom, along with the artist credit. Booster packs look identical to normal revised, and as such, telling them apart can often be troublesome. No starter decks were made. External links *[http://www.wizards.com/magic/advanced/1_2_3e/Revised.asp Wizards' official page on Revised] Category:Magic: The Gathering sets